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One Lap of America 2010: The End

Day 9 (delayed due to the fabulousness that is the SanDisk Cruzer 8 GB flash drive)
3480 of 3480 miles completedIt's over already? It seems just a few days ago we were in South Bend, Indiana, watching a group of eager-eyed teams take to the wet skidpad at Tire Rack's corporate headquarters. Oh wait, that's right, we were.

After a successful -- for most -- 3500-mile lap around most of the Midwest with a jaunt out to New Jersey for good measure, One Lappers return to the finish line a little travel weary, but in good spirits. The final event was supposed to be a dry skidpad, where teams have two laps in each direction to achieve their highest average lateral g, but frigid temperatures and heavy storms changed the plan.Similar to last year, the contestants finish in mild-wet conditions, spinning and sliding around the circle. Catesby Jones drives his GT-R like a madman. He's pushing hard because he's close to the leading Porsche GT2. If he beats it, and a few others do too, he can take home the win. The GT-R pulls a 1.063 g average.Eyes fall to Leh Keen and the leading Porsche, who runs last. There's minimal tire noise as he makes his laps, but plenty of celebration squealing and smoke afterwards: Keen and Doug Wilks' creation delivers a 1.098 g average, sealing their win. They're all smiles in the pits, hugging the car after Keen's exhibition/celebratory laps, which he spends sideways.

Team GT-R isn't deflated. Jones says he's already making plans for next year. The big item? Power. He says that the way his GT-R sits now, with an ECU tune and an exhaust, it makes the same power as the winning Porsche. What hurt him was the weight penalty of all-wheel drive in perfect conditions, which we've had all week.Jeremy Herzberg, Danny Popp, and Todd Rumpke's Corvette Z06 lays down a 1.059 g average, and the team leaves with an uncontested third overall. With a 0.962 g average, Hugh Bate and Rene von Richthofen's stock Porsche 911 Turbo falls to fifth overall. Replacing the Porsche is the turbo E30 325is, which lays down a 0.995 g average.

Carl Warren and Sam Kimberly-Bryant looked to be in good shape for a top ten finish, which was their goal this year. But, last night, their Ultima GTR ate its alternator during transit to South Bend. They hooked up a spare battery and drove the Corvette-powered Ultima until that died too, then had to flat-bed it to the hotel.The voltage looks fine this morning, but, as Kimberly-Bryant finishes his first lap, the Ultima sputters to a stop. A small band of fellow competitors rush to the car and push it around the skidpad for the remaining laps, but the effort isn't enough. The Ultima GTR takes 11th overall.Andy and Ann Hollis benefit the most. Their K20-powered 1988 Civic hatchback puts down a 1.021 g average, which boosts them to ninth. Andy says he'll be back, either with this car or a CRX. Horsepower will go up -- maybe to 300 -- and we'll see some aerodynamic works too.And thus ends our second round with One Lap of America. As we hightail it to Chicago's O'Hare airport for our flight home, it's impossible not to reflect on the week. We've seen a few of the greatest race tracks the Midwest has to offer, from the expanse that is Road America, the fairytale like forest surrounding the legendary Mid-Ohio, to the endearing character and history of Nelson Ledges. But the most impressive part of our journey has been the smiles and genial demeanor of everyone here. Even when their cars broke, or when they crashed. Or when they were suffering from food poisoning.The people make One Lap. They congratulate strong performances, sometimes with free lunches. They leap at the chance to help fix a competitor's car -- even if it's on the side of the road in the middle of the night. They talk a hilarious amount of good-natured trash talk. They take care of each other. They're all in the race together.With a spread of 68 teams, there's so much to see and so many interesting cars, it's impossible to mention them all. Spending just ten minutes with every team here would total over 11 hours of talking. Out of the top ten finishers, we missed the chance to mention Chris Wirth and Sean Caron's Lancer Evolution X. Their seventh place finish is the highest ever for an Evo X. There's also the family-championed Schaut BMW M3. Even with an essentially stock driveline and upgraded suspension, the sedan took ninth.

Families are big at One Lap. There was a very entertaining father-and-son rivalry between Neil Simon and Woody Hair in a supercharged M Roadster, and Robin Sparrow and Brian Hair in a 335i Coupe. The dads and sons exchanged blows, both verbal and in official results, on each track. They'd swap victories from morning to afternoon. It wasn't up until the last two events when the sons took the lead. They finished 14th overall. Dads took 16th.Family isn't always a rivalry though. To name far too few: There was the father-and-daughter team of George and Lauren Bruggenthies in a twin-turbo Dodge Stealth, and the step-father-and-daughter team of Greg MacDonald and Laura Risi in a Mini Cooper S.There was also a trio of Swiss chocolate makers from Mohrenkopf Dubler, who campaigned a Camaro SS (17th overall), and two HHRs (33rd and 40th). (Sadly, we never had a chance to try the chocolate.) There was a small army of very similar E36 M3s, each one with some kind of power-adder, which a tight group of friends campaigned. Last year, the same friends brought Corvettes. The year before that it was CTS-Vs.While we wished to have learned more about everyone here, one lesson was obvious: At One Lap, you may have to spend some serious coin to place high in the overall standings, but having a one-of-a-kind adventure, bragging rights over all your friends, and a truly unique bonding experience only requires that you sign up.See you next year.Photography by Julia LaPalmePhotography by Julia LaPalmePhotography by Julia LaPalmePhotography by Julia LaPalmePhotography by Julia LaPalmePhotography by Julia LaPalmePhotography by Julia LaPalmePhotography by Julia LaPalme